Category: Thoughts in my head

With my 2018 motto of “Create Energy/ Create Light” ringing in the back of my head, I’m seeking out stories and parables of how others create energy and light, and use it as a teaching tool for me too.

Groups are a great way to create community and share the good. It’s solely the reason why the Nicolyndime blog and the Thrifter’s Group exists!

It was in one of these groups where I saw a touching post about a do gooder in the Goodwill. I asked if I could share her story here.

Cheryl was shopping at her local Goodwill with her daughter. The two were at the jewelry counter when she overheard an elderly woman tell the cashier she forgot her wallet, and would have to come back another time to make her purchase. The weather was bad, and Cheryl felt equally as bad that the woman may have to brave the inclement day. She said she had been thinking about her mother so much, because her mother loved a Goodwill bargain hunt, and took the opportunity to honor her, and show her daughter a good example by offering to pay for the woman’s purchase. She was of course so grateful, and told her she would pay it forward. It made everyone feel good and I’m sure put so many good vibes out into the world!

Just wanted to brighten your day by sharing that beautiful story!

I always take a time out between Christmas, and when the kids go back to school. A lot of that time is clearing up loose ends from the holidays, putting away Christmas, doing another declutter session, and prepping for the Spring portion of the dance season. But I also take a few moments to be lazy, kind of become a hermit, think about things, and set a mood for the new year.

Next Monday, I’ll be posting a video of my last thrift haul of 2017, but in all honesty, I can’t sit here and edit a video right now when I have such other exciting things to think about!

I was driving across the causeway towards the ocean, and the sun was shining in all its vibrancy, with the clouds looking quite majestic and heavenly. I was also admiring my new windshield (as mine spontaneously fractured while driving the Interstate, like the earth does at the time of impending doom in a cheesy action movie). The SPF at the top was allowing me to see the way the light shone through the clouds, presenting a delicate pink around the clouds. It wasn’t visible without that filter.

It made me think about filters, and how a filter can make things appear different. Like if you kept dark sunglasses on throughout life, you’d see it as a dark place, devoid of the light and color around you.

Then I thought about light, and dark. How you cannot create darkness. Darkness is only present when light is extinguished or blocked.

Therefore in order to be the carrier of darkness, you have to be robbing light from someone else, or yourself. There’s a lot of this in the world right now.

But when you think about it… you CAN create light…. with energy! And there I had my theme for 2018. Create Energy, Create Light!

In my blog, I always strive to share good things, positive thoughts, ways to make life less stressful, and more manageable, and enjoyable for you. We will all go through trials, and I’m sure there are many more to come. But we have the power to create light.

I’m working to create lots of exciting things in 2018 to bring you light and joy. So welcome 2018, and as always, thanks for being a loyal reader!

I truly believe that we should all lift one another up, male or female, instead of always attacking and dragging each other down. Who knows what kind of successes we all might achieve if everyone just helped each other out a little! Perhaps it’s my recent vulnerability in the blogging world, and how I wish someone were out there to help me out a little, but I wanted to talk about and spread the good news about women who share in my vision of confidence building, and self care.

That’s why I’m doing a special feature each month on female entrepreneurs, bloggers, game changers, and world changers who share my same excitement over helping women feel great about themselves. I’m calling it “Soul Sisters” because I believe we are all sisters in our soul if we are spreading that positive message.

Melissa is a photographer, but it was her description of her subject that really got me. She specializes in photographing women, and providing them with a little self love in the form of a confidence makeover. We all need that sometimes!

If we could see ourselves through other people’s eyes, I’ll bet our perceptions would quickly change. I think that’s what Melissa does for her clients. She said she loves the moment when a client gasps, “oh wow, that’s really me!?”

She also has a passion for providing a special memento for generations to come and feels honored to be a part of such wonderful life milestones like wedding, maternity, and newborn photo shoots.

Like most of our callings in life, photography found Melissa when she was unhappy in her current life path. And also with many defining moments, came from a tragedy where she suffered the loss of someone very close to her. She set out to bring in a bit of happiness, and found her passion for photography. To this day, she continues to spread that happiness in her work, and her commitment and relationship with her female clients.

I asked Melissa to tell me what she would tell her 10 year old self: “Be brave. Don’t be so nervous to try new things. Quit worrying about looking weird. Play the sports, sing the songs, do the things! Oh! And be nice to your mom. And clean your room you filthy animal.”

Sage advice, Melissa!

What I love about Melissa:

She’s a confident woman who set out in a tough industry to pursue her passions and share those passions with women who need a little self empowerment. She creates memories; something that I am a huge advocate of, and finds the beauty and magic in everything which is also a notion I promote. I love that she was able to take her tragedy, and flip the script to turn it into a beautiful life, creating other beautiful moments for women.

*Note* I was not paid to promote this featured business/ entrepreneur, and it was solely my choice alone to select and feature said individual. They were selected for the message they embody, and not for specific works cited, or business services. All photos in this feature are solely the property of Prout Portraits and were used with permission.

Hello Lovelies! Today I launched my very first email subscriber only free course for “Simple Ways to Build Confidence in Yourself.” If you missed out, you can still catch the rest of the week by signing up now RIGHT HERE:

But over the weekend, I was the one that needed a little confidence boost.

I have been having some major successes in my real career. The one I did my whole life, plus earned a degree in; Dance.

I also have years of experience teaching dance.

So I guess I should be a little bit easier on myself when I only have one year blogging experience and only a few months under my belt of the mindset of actually promoting it and growing my following.

I’ve been depressed y’all 🙁

I’ve been trying to grow my blog following because I feel a very strong pull to teach what I’ve been calling “Girly Frugality with Confidence.” The confidence you get for finding frugal and thrifty fashion, beauty, and solutions to your zaniness in the female sector.

But so far it’s been slooow… like slooooooooowwwwwww. And even though I’m new to all this and learning a lot as I go, I think I figured that if I wrote really good stuff, and had topics people would like, it would get found.

So when it wasn’t, those insecurities started babbling away at me. “You’re not good enough. Just stop while you’re ahead and before you make a fool of yourself. No one really could care less about this fanciful little dream of yours, you know that right?”

And so, as I prepped for my big little launch of my first free ecourse to my very valuable subscribers who are like gold to me (more precious than gold actually), I was going through this hypocritical meltdown of myself.

Luckily I posted in a FB group and I truly believe that God sent me someone to keep me going on, and hanging on. She was so kind with her words, and took the time to actually read my blog, tell me I was talented, and gave me 5 key points that she thought would help me out. Most of all, however, she told me that this was completely a-ok and where I am in this journey is TOTALLY ALRIGHT.

You can’t know how those words touched me, and how it made me feel like a weight had been taken off of me.

I had to do some soul searching about what this was all about and I figured it out.

A lot of my life I was told I wouldn’t make anything out of my dreams. Sometimes your dreams take a long time to play out, and if it was an easily achievable dream, would it really be all that worth it? NO! I felt a lot like I should hurry up and prove myself, and hurry up and be useful. This might take some time, but I’m willing to put in the time and the hard work.

Join me on this journey so we can make discoveries and be cheerleaders together!

*Launching September 12th*

I want you guys to think of email from me as a little power up… Super Mario Bros. style. Like the red and white mushroom that makes you bigger than you were from the start.

I’m sending monthly recaps to my community of blog subscribers so that you never miss a post, but that’s something just anyone can stumble upon.

So my goal is to create exclusive content for JUST the members of the Nicolyndime Club. I want you awesome ladies to feel special, and well, AWESOME!

As you know, I focus on frugal beauty and fashion, as well as powerful uplifting content, stories, and advice.

My first FREE mini email course will be a 5 day installment where I send you a little thought each day, along with some actionable steps. The course title is “5 Secrets to more Confidence in Yourself” and will launch Sept. 12th. Be sure you are signed up by then to receive day 1.

But that’s not all! You might receive additional content that I don’t post on the blog. Additional recommendations, cheat sheets, printables, and whatever else I happen to think may be a great addition to your life, including subscriber only giveaways, extra entries in public giveaways, special pricing and offers on products, and early notice of launches!

So if you’re not already a part of the Nicolyndime Club…What are you waiting for?!

(No… I’m not pregnant…)

But I’m pretty proud!

Women are pretty powerful, and you are pretty powerful too.

Right now I feel like every song written about following your dreams, was written just for me. One of those, walking on the clouds, can’t bring me down, won’t be stifled kind of moods.

And I’ll tell you why….

In one short year, I’ve accomplished so much more than I ever thought I could, with little more than sheer will, determination, and some pretty great cheerleaders in my corner. (you know who you are, and though a few of you may be far away, you’re always close in my heart.)

It wasn’t long ago I was in a pretty bad state of mind. I didn’t think there was much more for me to experience in this world, and I was jaded and suffocated. When my husband got relocated to Florida for his job, I moved, leaving everything behind, and began a fresh start.

With no friends, connections, and familiar comfort spots in sight, I buckled down. Determined to land a dance teaching job. I sent out a bunch of press kits and waited. I landed an audition, but the hours weren’t there for me. I landed another audition and it just didn’t seem like the right fit. Disheartened, I kind of gave up. Then I got a call. She needed a teacher fast, and it just so happened that my resume finally made it to her mailbox.

Dream number 1: I was hired!

I decided to step out of my comfort zone, and start taking classes in aerial silks, and eventually aerial lyra. I worked hard, I got a pull up bar, and I went to class all the time, even if I felt I couldn’t do anything and was really far behind.

On a totally random and ordinary day, the owner, asked me if I would like to teach the intro level classes. I’d hoped that my responsible behaviors, work ethic, and determination to succeed, shone forth and I’d like to think that’s one of the reasons I was hired.

Dream number 2: Tackling a dream AND getting hired. (Can you even believe that once I hit 25 years old, I thought I was too old and my opportunities were zilch?!!!)

Not too long ago one of the instructors from that first job I landed needed a substitute for her adjunct faculty job teaching dance at a local college. She asked me if I’d like to go through the process to become credentialed to teach there. YES!

Dream number 3: Teaching at the college level.

A lot of people told me that I’d never make anything out of dance. They scoffed when I wasn’t doing a “real” track of study and threw comments around on how easy it must be to just go to school and dance. Those people sounded very ignorant to me then, and sound even more so now.

As an adult, and fellow member of humanity, I would tell anyone to follow their dreams. I’d add that if you work hard, and position yourself in the right track, your odds are better to land that dream job.

Don’t give up… never ever ever give up. Laugh at the naysayers. Tell them nothing, but show them how wrong they are. The best revenge is living a happy life. 🙂

Be the person that makes other people feel good. You’ll be remembered for that.

But,

You’ll also be remembered for making people feel bad…..

Remember that too….

It’s your choice.

If you are an awesome female, who wants to look great and feel great in a community that wants to be uplifted and focus on the simple happy moments in life… I’m looking for you!

This blog is an extension of me. I’m the author behind it, and such it should act as a living and breathing human being. It started out on one path, but along the way has made discoveries, and decisions, and maybe isn’t EXACTLY the same, but has the same ideas at its core.

I think it’s great! I think it’s great when things, and people, can grow for the better. And it’s this mentality that is the subject of today’s post.

You might have noticed some changes around here if you are a loyal follower. There is no sign up for notifications of every blog post anymore, but instead a sign up for joining a community.

This community is one that I believe in with every fiber of my being. At its core is the simple idea that when you can adopt a vintage “Leave it to Beaver” ideaology about life, better things will happen. What do I mean? Every day wake up with the Golden Rule in mind. Treat others as though you’d like to be treated. Live an honest to goodness life, spread good, do good. It might not always be reciprocated, but if you’re really looking, there will be moments that can outshine any oversight.

This blog was created to talk about frugal beauty, and a frugal lifestyle. That kind of thought process was passed down to me by my grandma. Waste not want not. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. BUT many of us live in a world that tells us more is more. I believe in a happy balance. Be frugal so you can have some splurges, and some luxuries.

There’s a lot of malarky out there, especially around the beauty industry. So I wanted to share my stories of finding awesome fashions at thrift stores, great beauty products at drugstores, and give honest reviews on those products. I want to teach women, who enjoy entertaining, how to do it the frugal way, so you can have less stress AND entertain more often! I want to provide simple solutions for women who need less chaos in their lives. And I want to share powerful, uplifting words of experience from someone who’s been down a dark road, and can now see the light.

I also want you to spread the word! Please share!

I have a lot of exciting ideas for the future! And I want you to join me so you can come along for the crazy ride.

When you join, you will automatically receive a pdf download of my skincare suggestions for any skin type at the drugstore, and an exclusive VIP invite to my Nicolyndime Club Facebook Group! Instead of getting a notice every time I post, I will send a blog post recap at the end of the month, and you’ll also be part of the first group to learn about my new launches, advice, and other updates from Nicolyndime.

I really hope you’ll join us!

I’ve been thinking about how I want to breathe new life into the blog and fully encompass everything I’m all about. One thing I LOVE is those little quotes that people post all over social media that totally sum up an attitude, thought, or idea. So what better way to start the first Monday of the month, than a little inspirational or funny quote to lead our way into the new moon?

Today’s quote comes from cambio.com. I googled girl power quotes and this came up. I loved it, and so I’ll share it with all of you.

This is true on many levels. It’s important that we as women not allow ourselves to become victims, be it of circumstance, environment, society, or sometimes our biggest critic, ourselves.

Recently I’ve been wanting to re think the blog. When I was younger I used to diy a lot of things from thrift stores for fashion. I’ve been seeking inspiration by looking for instagram accounts that strike my fancy, and I’m trying to find my place in this blogging world. I have so many passions, and though they seem to me to totally flow together, sometimes I think others don’t see my vision. But hey that’s life.

I welcome any kind of ideas from you, my followers, subscribers, and visitors to the blog. Do you want to see more diy, makeup tutorials, frugal ideas?? What do you all want to know about?

I was trying to do an allure beauty magazine look of the month tutorial, but then I realized that I was saying how easy and simple the look was each month. I love that Allure has been focusing on the natural beauty of the face, but I want to flex my creative makeup muscle, and teach you all to do that at home!

I want to do some monthly features, and leave it open for some discussion and inspiration topics, but I’m really curious to hear what you would like to read, view, and learn, all month long!

So please let me know! Whether you are just passing by, or you’re a faithful follower. please leave me a comment below!

XO Nicolyn

Not a long post today because I am prepping for Easter! I am planning dinner for my husband and myself. It’s just us but I wanted to try my hand at a recipe that was around when I was growing up. I associate a few of those good memories with my dad, who loved Italian Easter Pie.

So I looked up a bunch of recipes over on Pinterest and I’m going to give it a try. I’m starting it today or tomorrow so I’d welcome any tips and advice!